Oh boy, this is it. The end. It's been a long journey but we're finally here, and I've loved every step of the way. Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me, reviewing or following or favouriting, and I hope you've had as much fun reading as I have writing! Special thanks to those who've commented on multiple or even every chapter, your support and enthusiasm meant the world and I loved reading each and every one!

Okay, that's all from me, so let's finish this.

Epilogue:

In Which There Are Festivities

For the first time in centuries, there were two Hylians in the king's entourage. They had joined the crowds and cheered along at the Pledge – to lead, to serve, to protect and inspire – and now they followed him, astride the blessed camel, through the gates of Fortress City.

Nabooru didn't take her eyes off them. She hadn't since they had arrived, just as she hadn't every other time they'd visited. The boy with one arm and the girl with the stitched eyes. Her gifts were grand, but she made Nabooru uncomfortable with her knowing smirks and pointed words.

Zelda, Ganondorf had told her. And Link.

She preferred girl and boy, but she saw the way he was with them. The softness in his eyes and smile wasn't something she had seen before, and she had certainly never seen him share that easy, quiet familiarity the three of them had with anyone else.

But she watched them closely, intently, nonetheless, as they made the pilgrimage to the temple. Her girls, her six most trusted, watched the rest of the procession, but she stayed close to her king. King-to-be. They had the Beseeching and the Enthronement to go still. Even so, the thought made her heart swell and pulled a smile onto her face.

At long last, Ganondorf was to be king. It had been three years since he had returned, alone and marked with the scars of some distant goddess's power, and now, at last, he ascended.

They made good time. A day's travel to the outpost – freshly swept and decorated with flowers, brimming with the scent of incense – and a further two to the temple. The Wastes kept their distance – a sure sign of the blessing to come.

'Did I ever tell you,' Ganondorf said, as she walked alongside his camel, 'that we found the castle of Ikana?'

Stifling the surprise that swept through her, she squinted out at the billowing clouds of sand. 'No. I'd heard the rumours that it's out there, but I wasn't sure…you're sure that's what you found?'

'Yes.' He glanced back at Zelda, trailing patterns in the sand with her stick as he walked.

'She knew?' Nabooru guessed, and tutted when he nodded. 'How could she?'

'You didn't see her. You weren't there,' he said, and offered an apologetic grimace to the hurt she knew flashed across her face.

Her greatest failure. Not accompanying him on the journey that had, ultimately, even if only for a few moments, ended his life. A hard concept to wrap her head around, even three years later. It pained her to think about it. She should have pressed, forced her company on him. Perhaps she could have prevented his suffering.

He always dismissed her when she brought it up. Meant to be, he often said. Foretold. She couldn't blame herself, shouldn't concern herself with what could have been. But of course she did.

Since his return, she had kept a closer watch on him than ever. It annoyed him, she knew, but she also knew he understood. She was Captain of the Guard and she would let no further harm befall him.

Ganondorf shook his head, his voice pulling her from her dwelling. 'It's her curse.'

They both glanced back at Zelda, who chose that moment to look up. Her lips twitched into that familiar insolent smirk and Nabooru faced forward again with a scowl.

'Sooner or later,' Ganondorf said with a laugh, 'one of you will have to give in.'

'Not me,' she replied, and she knew without a doubt Zelda's reply would be much the same.

They reached the temple on the evening of the second day, heralded by a glorious sunset; the light a soft golden orange, the sky ablaze with red and gold and pink. The shadows stretched long and inky, and the great bust of the Goddess, rising from the sand, glowed divinely.

Once the last of the light faded, Ganondorf would enter the temple alone and commune with the goddess. If he returned, he would do so with her blessing.

Though Nabooru had no doubt in her mind that he would succeed, a treacherous tremor of unease went through her as she watched the temple doors. She tore her gaze away and scanned the sands around the oasis, scouring every shadow and potential hiding place.

Sand crunched behind her and she turned, a cautious hand going to her glaive, but she found only Zelda behind her.

'He's going to be fine,' she said.

'I know.' Nabooru searched her face, despite the years still preparing to strike at the first sign of ill will. 'Do you?'

Zelda smiled, and it wasn't a smirk but something a little more painful. 'Not for certain.'

Squinting, Nabooru watched her for a few more heartbeats. There was no threat in her posture as she twisted her stick in her hands, but Nabooru couldn't be too cautious. Not with her or Link.

Link, who was currently talking to Ganondorf; as she watched, they laughed.

'He's going to be fine,' she said.

Zelda's face fell back into a smirk. 'I know.'

Nabooru scowled and whistled for her girls to spread out, guarding the oasis. Marching away from Zelda, she gravitated closer to Ganondorf. Close enough to spring in front of him or stab threats, far away enough that she didn't impose.

She stationed herself nearby, eyes on the desert but Ganondorf in her peripheral vision, and eavesdropped. How could she not?

'I'm sure Faryaal would be glad to see you,' Ganondorf said in Gerudo, and Link jiggled his shoulders uncertainly.

'She probably doesn't even remember me.' His Gerudo had improved in leaps and bounds over the years, but he still faltered here and there, the accent not quite down.

'Only one way to find out.'

'Well, you let me know if she's there when you're blessed and everything, and I'll think about it.'

Ganondorf laughed softly, snaking an arm around his waist and pulling their sides flush together. 'She'll remember you.'

'Yeah, alright.'

Stepping away, Nabooru glanced across the sands again, whistling to the others. Six all clears replied, and when she looked back Zelda had joined Ganondorf and Link. She held Ganondorf's hand and Nabooru watched them for a heartbeat before averting her gaze. There was something the three of them that was just right. To see them stood together, it felt strange to think of them being separate.

'Ready?' Zelda asked softly.

Ganondorf replied with a resolute, 'yes.'

'I can't believe you're going to be king,' Link said, with an anxious kind of laugh.

'Nor I,' he replied, but Nabooru could tell he was smiling.

He had theorised, more than once since his return from the grand quest, that being struck by the light of a goddess had healed him of his curse. Burned it out of his blood, even as it had burned the life from him.

Nabooru still didn't believe he had ever been cursed. It had simply been hearsay and myths turned to expectations about his path in life. He was good and kind and so far from anything demonic and she just didn't believe it.

But she was glad he had been relieved of the burden his aunts had placed upon his shoulders all his life. The weight had lifted and left him lighter, happier. Free.

As the light faded and the first stars appeared overhead, Nabooru walked him down to the shore of the oasis. The water glittered indigo and orange, and at her side the high priestess, joining them from the temple, held the robes he would change into. Simple, dark, tied at the waist with a golden cord.

'Are you ready?' the high priestess asked as he began to undress.

'Yes.'

She smiled. 'Good.'

Nabooru studied the scars on his back, stretching along his spine like the roots of an ancient tree. They caught the fading light, starkly silver, and she had to look away as those familiar regrets knotted in her chest.

Once he was bathed and dressed and the soft shroud of night had fully descended, he walked alone with the high priestess to the temple. Nabooru watched until they disappeared into the darkness, and then returned to the entourage to wait.

Link and Zelda huddled together and, recalling her six, Nabooru lit a fire while the tents were erected. One tiny, shivering light against the dark of the vast night sky.

They waited, and they waited. The night stretched long and cold, the stars bright and the moon brighter, and finally the edges of the world began to pale. Slowly, the rest of the sky followed, brilliant streaks of red and violet heralding the sun's waking.

As the world warmed and flooded with gold, the Goddess's face all in shadow, Ganondorf emerged. Head held high, striding confidently, with his aunts on their enchanted brooms at his sides, he left the temple and returned to them. Nabooru didn't fight the triumphant grin, rousing the entourage and those of her six who had been sleeping with a victorious whoop.

The Hylians scrambled from their tent in a panic, but as sleep gave way to understanding their grins matched her own.

Moving to greet him, Nabooru dropped into a halfway mocking bow as he halted before her. 'My king.'

'Not quite yet,' he replied, and when she lifted her head he was grinning.

'Soon,' Koume said, and Kotake tittered softly.

'Soon,' Nabooru agreed.

Ganondorf offered a gracious nod made only slightly unconvincing by the obvious excitement he all but hummed with, and she ruined it further by sweeping him into a hug. He laughed and returned the embrace, and she checked him over for damage or injury swiftly.

Confirming he was whole, she led him back to the entourage who converged, chattering and congratulating, but he only had eyes for two. Link jittered with excitement, and even Zelda couldn't hide her pride. Watching the pair of them fawn, Nabooru felt her heart mellow ever so slightly. The first meltwater of spring, perhaps.

Ganondorf pressed kisses to both of their foreheads, and they responded by overwhelming him with hugs. He tipped his head back and laughed, bright and free and ready, as Nabooru led her girls in a victory cry.

The journey back to the city was as smooth as the journey from it, and they were greeted by the deafening cheers of the waiting crowd. The queen met them at the gates and escorted her son to the palace, the people following along behind. A tide of celebration. It swelled to fill the great hall, and watched in rapt silence as Ganondorf ascended to his rightful place on the throne.

Decorated in the royal regalia, reunited with his ancient sword – excavated from a far-off place in a far-off forest – Ganondorf at long last greeted his people as their king.

There were two weeks of celebration to follow, and by the next day Nabooru had lost her voice almost entirely from all the cheering. Stationed inside his chambers, she ignored the ragged pain in her throat as she stood and eavesdropped. Ganondorf would have to leave the palace soon, within the next day or so, but for now he could celebrate as he liked.

Which of course meant a quiet gathering of himself and his two beloveds. Nabooru wondered if they knew how lucky they were. The favoured of the Gerudo King.

While some small part of her heart had mellowed, the rest of it made sure she watched them closely. Perhaps she was just looking for an excuse, but these two who held her king's heart were the deadliest of foes. All she needed was one wrong or false move, one hurtful word…

Realising she was glaring, Nabooru straightened her back and set her gaze just above the trio's heads. Sat amongst piles of cushions, they talked quietly, their mood so very far from the festivities they could all hear taking place outside.

'King Ganondorf,' Link sighed, shaking his head a little. 'I mean, I've known for ages but I never thought it would actually happen.'

'You and I both,' Ganondorf replied.

'I knew it would,' Zelda said, and stuck her tongue out when they both looked at her.

Link swatted her knee. 'No you didn't. Don't try to make yourself look good.'

She grinned, an expression Nabooru only ever saw on her face around the other two. Away from them, she was brusque and distant, though from what Ganondorf had told her, she was her mellowest self these days.

Ganondorf reclined a little further, and Link shifted to rest his head on his stomach. Nabooru narrowed her eyes, inspecting, but they were simply lounging, as lions in a pack might.

Running his fingers through Link's hair, Ganondorf sighed. 'There will be much to think about – and do. The responsibilities of a king are many.'

'Come on,' Link protested, 'we're celebrating! It's been, like, a day. Just relax for a bit, won't you?'

'Can you manage that?' Zelda asked, bumping Ganondorf's foot with one of her own. 'All this time, and I've never seen you let loose.' She turned her head in Nabooru's direction. 'Have you?'

They all looked at her and she stiffened her spine, glancing from Link and Zelda's eager faces to Ganondorf's warning expression. She grinned slowly and watched him balk, and Zelda snickered knowingly.

'You have,' she said, bumping his foot again. 'Go on then, tell us. If you won't she will.'

'She will,' Nabooru agreed, sauntering a little closer.

'I forbid it,' Ganondorf said. 'My first decree as king: Nabooru shall not divulge a single story from my younger years.'

Zelda sighed dramatically. 'Oh, if only I'd known! I would've spent longer spying on your past!'

'I'm glad you didn't,' he replied, but he couldn't fight the smile pulling at his mouth.

'Go on, Nabooru,' Link said, pulling away as Ganondorf tried to cover his mouth with a hand. 'Tell us everything!'

Sidling closer, Nabooru set down her glaive and folded herself onto a cushion. Ganondorf shook his head at her but she ignored him.

And so, grinning so widely it almost hurt, she began her tale.

Thank you for reading! Again, I hope you've enjoyed this journey, and maybe I'll see you around for my next story, whatever it may be.